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Episode 75! Leadership and mentorship go hand in hand; it’s just a matter of sharpening your mentorship skills. That’s what I discuss in this episode with my guest, Oak McCulloch.
Retired Lieutenant Colonel Oak McCulloch is a nationally recognized keynote speaker and the author of “Your Leadership Legacy: Becoming the Leader You Were Meant to Be.” Both his leadership presentation and his book are based on his 40+ years of leadership experience.
Are You a Leader or a Boss?
It’s important for leaders to be great mentors also. It’s their responsibility to produce the next generation of leaders. If you’re a leader and you’re not mentoring anybody then you’re not a leader, you’re a boss.
Mentoring someone to be a leader is different than general mentoring. If you’re mentoring someone to become a leader then you have to walk the walk of leadership, which includes making good decisions.
For Oak leadership is about servant leadership. He says, “When it comes to good leadership it isn’t about you and it’s all about you.” This means that if leadership is about the money, it’s not the right path to choose. If leadership is about helping other people, then it’s the path to take. It’s all about you in the sense of how you treat the people that work for you and how you empower them to become better and more productive leaders.
Mentoring Tips for Developing Better Leaders
There’s a difference between mentoring someone in your organization as opposed to someone outside of your organization. If you’re mentoring someone within your organization then you must include them in the decision-making process and show them what that looks like. For either scenario you must build trust with your mentee. The first way to do this is to get to know that person as a person, not just a position or title.
In this episode we also discuss:
- How long mentoring sessions should be and why.
- How to approach someone to become your mentor.
- What your first mentoring meeting should look like.
- What components are involved to make a great mentoring relationship.
- …and more golden nuggets of advice!
You can get my book “Idea Climbing: How to Create a Support System for Your Next Big Idea” here!
About The Guest
LTC McCulloch retired from the Army in September 2009 with over 23 years of active service and joined the staff at the Bay Area Food Bank as the Associate Director. He was also the Vice Chair for Military Affairs on the Mobile Area Chamber of Commerce and a member of the Mobile Rotary International Club. LTC McCulloch left the food bank in December 2010 to become the Senior Military Science Instructor and recruiter for the Army ROTC program at Stetson University in DeLand, Florida. In his 9 years at Stetson, the program grew from 15 Cadets to over 100 Cadets.
In October 2013, he became the Recruiting Operations Officer for the Eagle Battalion Army ROTC program at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University where he has more than doubled the size of the program in 6 years. Cadet Command selected LTC McCulloch as the top recruiting officer, out of 274 recruiters, for 2019. LTC Oak McCulloch published his first book in February 2021 – “Your Leadership Legacy: Becoming the Leader You Were Meant to Be”.
Connect with Oak!
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/oakland-mcculloch-34293256/
Instagram: https://instagram.com/ltcoakmcculloch/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/LtcOakland
Facebook Business: https://www.facebook.com/LTCOakMcCulloch
Service Professionals Network (SPN):
https://serviceprofessionalsnetwork.com/members/oakland-mcculloch/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1Ep1eqF3o0X5CBamtVgClQ
